Best CSV to IIF Converter for QuickBooks Desktop by Price
No account needed for your first 3 conversions. We never store your bank login.
The best CSV to IIF converter depends on what you are posting. For bank and credit card lines that should land on a specific expense account, ProperConvert ($179.99 a year per user) reads a category column and writes complete IIF files on Windows or Mac. For checks, bills, invoices and journal entries built in Excel, Big Red Consulting's IIF Transaction Creator ($139 the first year, then $119) is the specialist. csvqbo writes IIF on its Plus plan in the browser, but for plain bank activity its .qbo output on Starter is usually the safer import.
QuickBooks Desktop will not import a bank CSV in any version, so every tool below exists to work around that one gap. Prices were read on each vendor's own pricing or product page, and the table is honest about where we are the expensive option.
CSV to IIF converters for QuickBooks Desktop compared
| Tool | How it runs | Year one | After year one | What it posts | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ProperConvert Complete (ProperSoft) | Desktop app, Windows and Mac, converts on your computer | $179.99 per user or device ($19.99 a month) | $179.99 a year | Bank and card lines; a category column becomes the offset account | Bookkeepers who want categorized IIF without Excel |
| IIF Transaction Creator (Big Red Consulting) | Excel add-in, Windows only | $139 (+$49 optional premium support) | $119 a year | Checks, deposits, bills, invoices, journal entries, credit card charges | Excel users posting many transaction types |
| IIF Transaction Creator Pro (Big Red Consulting) | Excel add-in, Windows only | $169 | $149 a year | Same, plus saved profiles and extra settings | Repeat imports from the same layouts |
| csvqbo Plus | Browser, any computer | $894 billed yearly ($74.50 a month) or $149 month to month | Same | Bank and card lines into one register, offset to Uncategorized; also .qbo, QFX, OFX, QIF | Firms that also need .qbo and QFX from the same upload |
| Transaction Pro Desktop Importer (Rightworks) | Windows app, imports through the QuickBooks SDK, no IIF file | $199 one-time per user (PRO $299) | $99 a year for support | Most list and transaction types, written directly | Users who need the data in Desktop, not an IIF file |
| Dancing Numbers Importer | Windows app, direct import, no IIF file | $199 a year, up to 3 company files | $199 a year | Most transaction and list types, with undo | Users who want an undo button IIF never gives |
The last two rows are not IIF writers at all. They are on the list because a lot of people searching for a CSV to IIF converter really want the rows inside QuickBooks Desktop, and a direct importer with an undo is a better answer than IIF for that job. The full renewal math for both is in our QuickBooks Desktop import tools pricing comparison.
What is the best CSV to IIF converter for bank transactions?
ProperConvert, if your CSV has a category column. It maps date, amount, description, payee and category, and the category becomes the expense or income account on each split, so the IIF posts complete transactions rather than parking everything in one holding account. It runs locally on Windows or Mac, which matters to firms that cannot upload client data. Without a category column, every IIF tool posts to a placeholder account and you reclassify inside QuickBooks.
That last point is where csvqbo sits. Our IIF export writes each bank line as a check or a deposit against the register you name, with the other side posted to Uncategorized. It is clean and balanced, but you still assign accounts in Desktop afterward. If you are doing that work anyway, the CSV to IIF converter page shows exactly what the file contains before you pay.
Should I import IIF or a .qbo file into QuickBooks Desktop?
For bank and credit card activity, a .qbo file is usually the better import. It goes through Bank Feeds, where QuickBooks matches each line to existing entries, lets you add or reject it, and skips any transaction ID it has seen before. An IIF file posts straight to the register with no review screen and no undo, so a doubled import means deleting the duplicates by hand.
IIF earns its place when you need something .qbo cannot carry: a specific expense account on each line, a bill or invoice rather than a bank line, a journal entry, or a split across several accounts. The trade-off is laid out side by side on our CSV to IIF vs CSV to QBO page. If bank lines are all you have, csvqbo's Starter plan ($24.50 a month billed yearly, 100 conversions) writes the .qbo and you do not need Plus at all.
How much does a CSV to IIF converter cost?
Between $119 and $894 a year for one user, depending on the tool. Big Red's IIF Transaction Creator is the cheapest at $139 the first year and $119 after, ProperConvert costs $179.99 a year, and csvqbo's Plus plan with IIF export is $894 a year. The direct importers that skip IIF run $199 one-time (Transaction Pro, plus $99 a year for support) or $199 a year (Dancing Numbers).
| One user, three years | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Red IIF Transaction Creator | $139 | $119 | $119 | $377 |
| Transaction Pro Desktop Importer with support | $199 | $99 | $99 | $397 |
| Big Red IIF Transaction Creator Pro | $169 | $149 | $149 | $467 |
| ProperConvert Complete, yearly | $179.99 | $179.99 | $179.99 | $539.97 |
| Dancing Numbers Importer | $199 | $199 | $199 | $597 |
| csvqbo Starter, .qbo only | $294 | $294 | $294 | $882 |
| csvqbo Plus, IIF included | $894 | $894 | $894 | $2,682 |
On price alone we lose for a single Windows user. Plus makes sense when the conversion count is the constraint (500 files a month), when several people work on different machines including Macs, or when the same bank export has to go out as IIF for one client, .qbo for another and QFX for a third. ProperConvert's Team plan covers three users for $449.97 a year. Every Big Red figure is broken down in our Big Red Consulting pricing guide, and ProperSoft's plans in ProperConvert pricing.
Which CSV to IIF converter works on a Mac?
ProperConvert and csvqbo. ProperConvert installs on macOS and converts locally; csvqbo runs in any browser. Big Red's add-ins require Excel for Windows, and Transaction Pro and Dancing Numbers are Windows programs. Keep in mind that IIF only imports into QuickBooks Desktop for Windows, so a Mac converter helps when the bookkeeper works on a Mac and the client's company file lives on a Windows machine or a hosted desktop.
Can QuickBooks Online import an IIF file?
No. IIF is a QuickBooks Desktop format, and QuickBooks Online does not accept it in any plan. If any of your clients are on Online, the file you want is a .qbo, or a three or four column CSV in the layout Online's bank upload expects. That is one reason a converter that writes both formats from the same upload is worth a look for mixed Desktop and Online practices; see the CSV to QuickBooks Desktop converter for the Desktop side.
Why does my IIF import create transactions in the wrong account?
Usually because the account name in the file does not exactly match an account in your chart of accounts. IIF matches names as written, so "Checking" and "Business Checking" are different accounts, and QuickBooks may create a new one to fit the file. Name the bank register exactly as it appears in Desktop before converting, test with a handful of rows in a backup copy, and only then import the full month.
Is there a risk-free way to test IIF before buying?
Yes. Big Red offers a trial download, ProperSoft provides a trial at its download page, and csvqbo lets you run three conversions with no account to confirm your CSV parses and preview every row (the IIF download itself is on Plus). Whatever you try, import into a copy of the company file first. An IIF import cannot be rolled back, and restoring a backup is the only clean undo.
Which one should I buy?
Choose by the job, not the format name. Posting bills, invoices or journal entries you build in Excel on Windows: Big Red's IIF Transaction Creator. Categorized bank and card lines on Windows or Mac without touching Excel: ProperConvert. Getting all kinds of data into Desktop with an undo: Dancing Numbers or Transaction Pro. If your rows start life as paper receipts rather than a bank export, pull receipt and invoice data into a spreadsheet first and then convert that sheet.
If what you actually have is a bank or credit card CSV and you want it in QuickBooks Desktop with matching and duplicate protection, upload it to the converter at the top of this page, check the parsed rows, and download a .qbo. Switch to the IIF download on Plus only when you need it for a client whose workflow requires IIF.